Great News

Although Ansley progressed great each day, we knew that she wasn’t ready to come home. She was off the ventilator, and she had pulled her own feeding tube out, but she needed to be feeding more on her own before she would be discharged. She was still hooked up to the IV, which gave her additional nutrients, and she had the monitors that checked heart, breathing, O2 levels, etc. They don’t tell you a suggested date of discharge because they don’t want to get your hopes up, so we had no idea when she would be able to come home. As the days got closer to Sunday (my discharge date), my emotions were in full force. Knowing we would have to leave without our sweet baby was not what we wanted. We knew she was right where she needed to be, but it was so hard to comprehend. The day of my discharge was a blur, and a day I never want to relive. We went to visit Ansley and help out with the feeding. We kissed and loved on her, and then we had to say our goodbye. The pain of leaving was so hard. Mitch and I both wept. We sat in the parking lot for a long time before he had the composure to drive us home. It was the longest ride from Macon to Perry. My mom was so gracious to come and fix us a wonderful meal. She made all of our favorite dishes, and we were so thankful for some good food. Mitch and I decided that we would go back to the NICU each night for the 9:00 feeding. Returning later that day was so good for us. We saw that precious face again, and my broken heart was beginning to heal. We made it home with no tears! For the next few days, Mitch’s mom and my sister took turns taking me to the NICU in the morning. Mitch would visit during his lunch break, and then the two of us would return each evening. The nurses are so wonderful there, and they were so patient with every question we had. You can also call 24 hours a day to check on your baby. We definitely wore that number out! Knowing she was in such good hands gave us great comfort. I was also able to heal at home and rest up. I know we couldn’t have gotten through this without the Lord. He answered all of our prayers and comforted us during these days. I was also surprised at the number of people in the same situation. We received so many emails, facebook messages, text and phone calls with people offering encouraging words. To talk to someone who has been through the same situation made things a lot easier. We also knew that so many people were praying for Ansley. Words can’t express how thankful we are of all of the prayers for Ansley. The Lord definitely heard and responded.

On one of the morning visits, we found out the greatest news. Ansley was ready to come home! Yay! Then everything in my mind came to a screeching hault….wait, what?? I don’t even have everything ready. I called Mitch with the wonderful news first. After the visit with Ansley, Shana and I decided to run to Target to get what we would need to survive our first month or so with Ansley. I felt like we bought out the entire baby section, but we were prepared! I couldn’t wait to finish getting everything set-up. At 33 ½ weeks, her room was nowhere near ready! We did what we could to prepare for her homecoming. Our baby girl was finally coming home!